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Daniels attended Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois. As a starting quarterback, Daniels led Naperville Central to win an undefeated IHSA Class 6A State Championship in 1999.[2] He earned Prep Football Report and PrepStar All-American honors as well as being named a Top 100 prospect nationally by PFR. As a junior, he completed 100 of 168 passing attempts for 1,750 yards and 17 touchdowns, against just 1 interception. He completed 30 of 35 passes for 562 yards and 7 touchdowns in the opening two games of his senior year before a knee injury ended his season. He was also the starting center on his basketball team and a 22-foot (6.70m) long jumper on the track & field team.[3]

Daniels attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team under coach Barry Alvarez. At Wisconsin, he red-shirted his freshman year at the quarterback position.[4] Early in his college career, he was a back-up quarterback and played special teams, flanker, split end, and wingback. He eventually assumed the starting job at tight end for most of his final two seasons with the Badgers. During his career at Wisconsin, Daniels played in 43 games with 62 receptions for 852 yards (13.7 average) earning him the moniker "Ole Sure Hands". He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor of science degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

He was drafted with the 98th pick (overall) and as the first pick of the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft.[5] He earned the nickname "The Weatherman" as he majored in meteorology and appeared on the Madison area news delivering the local forecast. As a Professional, the moniker, "O.D." seems to have stuck amongst Texans fans, Houston media, and users of NFL-related message boards.

Daniels finished his rookie (2006) season with 34 receptions for 352 yards with 5 touchdowns.[5]

Owen Daniels completed the 2007 NFL season starting all 16 games with 63 receptions for 768 yards and 3 touchdowns.[5]

On November 2, 2008 Daniels had his "best game of his career", according to the Houston Chronicle, against the Minnesota Vikings with 11 receptions for 133 yards.[6] On December 7, 2008 he and quarterback Matt Schaub combined for a 27-yard completion during a game winning drive to defeat the Green Bay Packers.[7] He completed the 2008 season with 70 receptions for 862 yards with a trip to the 2009 Pro Bowl.[8] He and teammate Andre Johnson were the most prolific tight end-wide receiver combination in the NFL with 185 catches for 2,437 yards.

On November 1, 2009 in a game against the Buffalo Bills, Daniels tore his ACL and was placed on season ending injured reserve.[9][10]